Black Lives Matter

Rekia Boyd, Aiyana Stanley-Jones, Tanisha Anderson, and so many others… I have come to expect that Black girls and women who have been killed by law enforcement officers will not be mentioned by most writers and pundits discussing “Black Lives Matter.” Although the “Black Lives Matter” slogan was developed by queer Black women, unfortunately, the contributions and struggles of Black women are often marginalized and even erased in conversations regarding Black people.

Yet, I was startled and disappointed by Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas’ CNN post Seeing God in the Face of Freddie Gray. Her article focuses exclusively on Black men without a single mention of Black women. Brown Douglas is a womanist theologian, and her work has been instrumental in the development of womanist approaches in religious studies. I expect a womanist scholar to offer some intersectional analysis. At the very least, I expect some acknowledgement of the complications of race and gender even when focusing on particular issues facing Black men. Brown Douglas writes, “If we are going to understand the extent of God’s love and the meaning of God’s justice, we must recognize the face of Jesus in the face of the Freddies and Trayvons.” And Rekias and Aiyanas and Tanishas… Black lives matter–all of them.